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When playing the Hammond, I don't really need four sets of drawbars or the black preset keys (I'm no B3 purist), but I'd at least want 3 drawbar sets (upper, lower, bass), two manuals, 20 pedals, and an expression pedal. And of course the stuff such as Chorus, Vibrato, Leslie switch AND a foot swoot switch. (It's baffeling that Nord's C2D doesn't have a foot switch. People are even retro-fitting old Hammonds with one.)

So... organ day? I'm not impressed. There are much better clones around, and a lot of competition for the single manual, single drawbar affair Roland has introduced here.

Falsch, To be fair, this thing costs under $1000 and weighs 12 pounds. It also has a nice selection of bread and butter sounds (piano, synth, etc) and has some other nice features. I think it's competing more with the Nord Electro than the C2D. Even compared to the electro it's got a lot lacking, but again, the value for the money seems quite high to me. The VR-09 had a lot going for it. It was obviously popular/successful enough to warrant a successor.

Also, FYI you can hook it up to a second keyboard via midi for a 2nd manual. The ipad app shows separate (albeit digital) drawbars for upper and lower manuals and even drawbars for the pedalboard which is an optional extra. So that option is a possibility. You could buy two VR-09B's and the PK9 20 note midi pedalboard/expression pedal for almost $3000 less than a nord C2D with the Nord pedalboard. You'd lose the pipe organ but you'd have a lot of other options that the C2D doesn't have.

With all that said, I'm not sure what the actual improvements are over the predecessor. Roland has done a poor job communicating that. I look forward to seeing some reviews when these things get out in the wild.

It would be interesting to see what Roland does next with the V-Grand idea. Personally, I still am really enjoying mine. For me, it was the right thing to do - buy once and forget about it and just enjoy playing. I do enjoy watching the parade of new products go by though.

With the release of FP-60 they eliminated all the drawbacks and inconveniences of FP-30 like: stupid volume control, downward facing speakers, absence of a display, volume control for metronome, different temperaments, audio input, line out, included half-pedal. I should have waited a bit longer and buy FP-60 instead.

I see they've introduced an HP601, as a replacement for the HP504. If my deductions are right, it's the same sound engine as the HP50x, not the modelled sounds, with an upgraded action (the PHA50 instead of the PHA4-Premium) and Bluetooth. It may be an interesting buy for somebody looking for a good action in a reasonably priced package to drive VSTs. I expect it to be around 1500 euros, the same as HP504 was. That's 250 more than the VPC1 and you get a nice furniture stand, built in sounds and speakers, to be able to play instantly, bluetooth and other pluses. The extra 250 are well worth it, not to mention that personally, I like the action better than that of the VPC1, and being a console, it gives you the chance to place an LCD and studio monitors on top.

Otherwise, it's not a big upgrade. I was thinking of upgrading the HP504 to get the newer action and modeled sounds (was thinking HP605), but getting pianoteq may be a better investment. The 605 will probably be upgraded next year and the investment is quite high (I'd have to add 1200euros for the 605 or around 800 for the 603A). Any thoughts if it's worth going for a modeled Roland vs pianoteq? (I might look more into this on another thread)

And the RP201 is a great addition to the line-up. I expect it to be very reasonable priced, in which case it will make for a great piano to start on (probably one of the best low-cost options).

With the release of FP-60 they eliminated all the drawbacks and inconveniences of FP-30...I should have waited a bit longer and buy FP-60 instead.

Well, the FP60 will probably be about double the price of the FP30. Weighs over 40 lbs, too (about 5 lbs more than the FP50 it is replacing.... which I think also addressed most of your FP30 complaints?)

Well, the FP60 will probably be about double the price of the FP30. Weighs over 40 lbs, too (about 5 lbs more than the FP50 it is replacing.... which I think also addressed most of your FP30 complaints?)

Yep the FP-60 is $1,400. PHA-4 same keyboard as the FP-30. Double the price for extra features. I'm looking learn piano, so the FP-30 may be enough for me. So it's a no brainer for me. If I decide piano is not my bag, I won't lose a large investment. Adorama has had the FP-30 on sale for $499. Probably what I'm getting.

Question: I noticed the FP-60 has 288 polyphony and the FP-30 has 128 polyphony. Would using either as a midi controller have the same polyphony as the keybooard?

Well, Roland still give some existing users something to play with. They will release Piano Partner 2 Version 2.0 by the end of this month. They added remote control, recorder, diary, and multiple user profiles in the new version.

I think that the "polyphony limit" is in the sound generator, _not_ in the keyboard mechanism, or its MIDI output.

The MIDI data stream carries _keystroke_ information. If you hold down the "sustain" pedal (one MIDI message), and run a glissando over the keyboard (88 MIDI messages for "Note On", 88 MIDI messages for "Note off"), and repeat the glissando several times: